Darwin Man Saves Trees At the Last Minute

A Darwin man has successfully stopped the cutting down of five old palm trees on his verge.

Gary Harper, a retired teacher, said he returned from a walk to find a crew, contracted by Power and Water, at his Leanyer home preparing to lop the trees from his verge.

The crew had been contracted to prepare the area for a high-voltage cable that would supply the new suburb of Muirhead.

To the crew, Harper said, “if anyone starts the chainsaw, they’re going to have to go through me.” He also mentioned that he was ready to chain himself to the tree if necessary.

Harper himself had planted the five trees and has been nurturing them for the last 20 years.

After ringing up Power and Water, and speaking to the boss in person, it was decided the crew would dig slightly to the right of the trees instead.

After many of the trees in Darwin were destroyed by Cyclone Tracy, the authorities decided that, although they don’t legally own them, residents would have more say over how tree services handled the trees on their verges.